Standards of Beauty, Globalization, and the Modern Indian Woman Rebecca Gelles SIT Study Abroad

SIT Graduate Institute/SIT Study Abroad SIT Digital Collections Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection SIT Study Abroad Fall 2011 Fair and Lovely: Standards of Beauty, Globalization, and the Modern Indian Woman Rebecca Gelles SIT Study Abroad Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcollections.sit.edu/isp_collection Part of the Other Film and Media Studies Commons, Other Languages, Societies, and Cultures Commons, Social Influence and Political Communication Commons, and the Sociology of Culture Commons Recommended Citation Gelles, Rebecca, "Fair and Lovely: Standards of Beauty, Globalization, and the Modern Indian Woman" (2011). Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection. 1145. https://digitalcollections.sit.edu/isp_collection/1145 This Unpublished Paper is brought to you for free and open access by the SIT Study Abroad at SIT Digital Collections. It has been accepted for inclusion in Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection by an authorized administrator of SIT Digital Collections. For more information, please contact [email protected]. FAIR AND LOVELY: STANDARDS OF BEAUTY, GLOBALIZATION, AND THE MODERN INDIAN WOMAN Rebecca Gelles Academic Director: Tara Dhakal ISP Advisor: Pramada Menon, independent lecturer School for International Training India Sustainable Development and Social Change Program Fall 2011 Gelles 1 Table of Contents Acknowledgements………………………………………………………………………………..2 Abstract……………………………………………………………………………………………2 Introduction………………………………………………………………………………………..2 Traditional Indian Beauty…………………………………………………………………………7 The Modern Indian Woman……………………………………………………………………...11 Skin………………………………………………………………………………………………12 Hair………………………………………………………………………………………………15 Figure…………………………………………………………………………………………….18 Clothing………………………………………………………………………………………….21 Societal Effects…………………………………………………………………………………..22 Conclusions………………………………………………………………………………………31 References………………………………………………………………………………………..34 Primary Resources……………………………………………………………………………….34 Secondary Resources…………………………………………………………………………….35 Bibliography……………………………………………………………………………………..37 Gelles 2 Acknowledgements: I would like to thank my advisor, Pramada Menon, for her guidance during my project. I would also like to thank Renu Addlakha, for giving me a new perspective on my topic and suggesting areas to study that I had not considered. I also appreciated the help I received from Debika Chatterjee and CREA, both in connecting me to my advisor and in giving me advice on how to approach the interview process. I am very grateful for the work of Tara Dhakal in helping me plan and prepare for this project, and in answering my many questions on citations. Finally, I would like to thank Trilochan Pandey, both for his help connecting me to CREA and for calming me down when I sent him a panicked message a week into the project worrying that my project had essentially been done already. Abstract: With the expansion of globalization in the modern era, ideas from individual cultures are more easily able to spread to other parts of the world. One set of cultural standards that may be spreading to India is that of beauty, where a media with an increasingly Western style shares television space with advertisements from corporations that are often foreign in origin. This study seeks to examine exactly what influence this globalized media has on its viewers, and, in particular, on their perspectives on beauty. In addition, since the ability to conform to cultural standards affects how people view themselves, this study will scrutinize exactly what effects these standards of beauty have on the women being measured against them. Most of the data gathered in this study was collected from residents of the city of Delhi, with supplemental information collected from residents of Jaipur, from previous studies on related issues, and from the media itself. This study was conducted using qualitative methods, mostly through individual interviews with members of demographics likely to be affected by changing standards of beauty or likely to have significant numbers of interactions related to these changing standards. The findings of this study are that cultural standards of beauty in India are narrowing and conforming to more international standards, and that these changes are causing new physical and psychological problems to be introduced into Indian society. Introduction: “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder,” as the saying goes. In recent years, a number of studies have been done that dispute this, studies that try to define an objective standard for beauty, to classify exactly what makes someone beautiful in the eyes of others. These studies have examined issues as variant as waist-to-hip or waist-to-chest ratio1 and facial 1 Martin Gründl, Marita Eisenmann-Klein, and Lukas Prantl. “Quantifying Female Bodily Attractiveness by a Statistical Analysis of Body Measurements.” Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery 123.3(Mar. 2009): 1064-1071. Internet. 11 Nov. 2011. Available: http://journals.lww.com/plasreconsurg/Abstract/2009/03000/ Gelles 3 symmetry.2 Many of these studies provide compelling evidence for their claims. But even if these factors contribute to beauty, it would be difficult to claim that they are the sole determiners of what constitutes an attractive appearance. This leaves many areas in which determination of beauty is subjective, and varies cross-culturally. For example, just in Western culture, consider the evolution of society‟s views on the ideal skin tone. In the Odyssey, one of the classics of Western literature, Homer expounds upon Nausicaa‟s beauty by describing her as “white- armed”3 in the same sentence as he claims “she outshone [all the other maidens], though all are lovely.”4 However, in the modern era, white arms are more likely to be considered pasty than beautiful in most Western countries, and American fashion magazines are filled with articles about how to maintain tan skin during the cooler months.5 Other areas where beauty cannot be objectively determined include weight, hair and eye color, hair length and texture, height, and clothing style. Standards of beauty are not just an academic issue: they are affected by culture, and have an effect on the people measured against them. In America, for example, the desire to be tan leads many women to go to indoor tanning salons that increase their risk of skin cancer.6 Meanwhile, some sources argue that this ideal of tan skin has arisen from its association with an upper class lifestyle and having enough leisure time to leave the indoor office and relax in the 2 Gillian Rhodes, Fiona Proffitt, Jonathon M. Grady and Alex Sumich. “Facial Symmetry and the Perception of Beauty.” Psychonomic Bulletin & Review 5.4 (1998): 659-669. Internet. 11 Nov. 2011. Available: http://www.springerlink.com/content/eq4178xr00474432/ 3 Homer. The Odyssey, trans. Robert Fagles (New York: Viking Penguin, 1996) 6.112. 4 Homer, 6.120. 5 Dawn Davis. “Keep Your Summer Glow Going Strong.” Cosmopolitan. Internet. 11 Nov. 2011. Available: http://www.cosmopolitan.com/hairstyles-beauty/skin-care-makeup/summer-glow-gradual-self-tanners 6 Stacey Colino. “Scary Truths Tanning Salons Deny.” Cosmopolitan. Internet. 11 Nov. 2011. Available: http://www.cosmopolitan.com/advice/health/indoor-tanning-dangers-1209 Gelles 4 sun.7 The desire of people to conform to an idealized, even unreachable, standard of beauty can have a negative effect on both their physical and mental health. And since standards of beauty are not static, when these standards change, it is necessary to examine the causes and effects of these changes, both negative and positive. In India, it appears that these standards are in the process of changing. The question that must be addressed, then, is why these changes are occurring and what their effects are. To understand development we must understand not only what effect individuals and society can have on development but also what effect development can have on society. And in the case of beauty standards, we see a situation in which the effects of a certain type of development on Indian society may not be entirely positive. If it is possible for certain brands of development to lead to an increase in health problems or a decrease in the empowerment of a certain group of people, this is a factor that must be considered in deciding whether to adopt that particular development strategy. When studying development strategies, one of the most difficult things to determine is what makes development actually sustainable. However, one requirement for sustainable development that can be agreed upon is that sustainable development must benefit those who do not traditionally have power in society, those who are marginalized. In India, those groups range from lower caste members and Dalits to tribal groups to women. The issue of beauty is particularly applicable when considering this last group, since women, in general, are the people most affected by beauty standards. India is a society undergoing a dramatic increase in its Westernization, partially caused by the opening up of its economy to international businesses, a step taken by the government in 7 Liane J. McDermott, Mike Emmison, and John Lowe, “Changing Discourses and Popular Attitudes to Suntanning,” Some Like It Hot: The Beach as a Cultural Dimension. Eds. Allan Edwards, Keith Gilbert, and James Skinner (Oxford: Meyer & Meyer Sport Ltd., 2003) 91-93. Gelles 5 order to promote the growth and development of the Indian economy. This Westernization has not only

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